Franco-Spanish War (1595-1598)

The Franco-Spanish War (January 1595-May 1598) was a war between the Kingdom of France and the Spanish Empire that was fought concurrently with the French Wars of Religion and the Anglo-Spanish War. The war was caused by Spain's assistance of the Catholic League during France's religious wars, and it endded with King Philip II of Spain recognizing the formerly Protestant Henry IV as King of France, Spain withdrawing its troops from France, and the remnants of the Catholic League losing their support.

Background
As France was torn apart by Catholic-Protestant wars of religion, King Philip II of Spain - a devoutly Catholic monarch - decided to lend his assistance to the Catholic League, a coalition of Catholic nobles opposed to both the royalist cause and the Protestant Huguenots. Philip, who was already at war with Protestant England and the United Provinces, did not wish to see Spain bordered by another Protestant power, nor did he want to see the Spanish Netherlands caught between two rival Protestant nations. Spanish troops fought alongside the Catholics during the wars, and Spain became the main financier of the Catholic League.

In 1588, the Protestant king Henry of Navarre came to power in France after defeating the royalists at the Battle of Coutras, succeeding the assassinate Henry III of France a year later. The Catholic League's armies still fought against the monarchy, although support for them dwindled after Henry controversially became a Catholic; he declared, "Paris is well worth a Mass," meaning that he would convert to Catholicism in order to gain legitimacy. Henry was now at odds with both Protestants and Catholics; Protestants accused him of becoming a puppet of Spain, while Catholics hated him for his former status as a Protestant leader. By 1594, King Henry had nearly destroyed the Catholic League, which was still depending on Spain for assistance. In January 1595, King Henry decided to declare war on Spain to show the French people that he was not a Spanish puppet, and to destroy the Catholic League once and for all. Henry was also motivated by the chance to reconquer large parts of northern France from the Franco-Spanish Catholic forces.

War
In early June 1595, the Spanish governor of Milan, Juan Fernandez de Velasco, crossed the Alps with an army of 12,000 troops from Italy and Sicily. The Catholic French noble Charles, Duke of Mayenne joined forces with him at Besancon, and the combined Spanish-Catholic League army moved on with the goal of capturing Dijon. King Henry managed to gather 3,000 French troops, and he raced to Troyes to prevent the Spanish from doing so. At the Battle of Fontaine-Francaise on 5 June 1595, the French surprised the Spanish and forced them to retreat temporarily, and Velasco decided to retreat, thinking that the numerically-inferior French were waiting for reinforcements. The French royal victory there marked the end of the Catholic League.

The French also made some progress during an invasion of the Spanish Netherlands, led by Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon and Francois d'Orleans-Longueville. The French captured Ham and massacred the small Spanish garrison, provoking anger among the Spanish ranks. The Spanish launched a concerted offensive that year, taking Doullens, Cambrai, and Le Catelet; at Doullens, the Spanish shouted "Remember Ham" and massacred everyone in the city (military and civilians alike) in an abhorrent act of revenge. On 7 September 1595, the Spanish also conquered Cambrai. The Spanish general in charge of the offensive, Carlos Coloma, proceeded to launch an invasion of France in 1596. From 8 to 24 April 1596, Coloma's 15,000-strong Spanish army besieged the French port city of Calais, held by 7,000 French troops under Francois d'Orleans. Relief forces from England and the United Provinces failed to lift the siege, and Calais fell to Spain. The Army of Flanders won a resounding victory, and the Spanish - now in control of both Calais and Dunkirk - had control over the English Channel.

By 1597, it seemed that the Spanish tide could not be stopped, as they rapidly overwhelmed much of northern France. In March 1597, the Spanish succeeded in capturing the city of Amiens through a ruse. King Henry IV immediately and quickly built up an army of 12,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry (including 4,200 English troops) and besieged Amiens on 13 May,  facing 29,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry (5,500 in Amiens, 25,000 in relief). The relief force, commanded by Archduke Albert of Austria and Ernst von Mansfeld, repeatedly failed to dislodge the French besiegers, and it was forced to retreat. On 25 September 1597, the entire Spanish force in Amiens was forced to surrender, and Henry was now in a strong position to negotiate peace terms. Amiens was the last major battle of both the French Wars of Religion and the Franco-Spanish War, for the Peace of Vervins was signed on 2 May 1598, ending the war. The treaty was a sign of the decline of Habsburg Spain and the rise of France, which would hold hegemony over Europe in the ensuing Grand Siecle of 1643-1715.